Harris County Municipal Utility District # 208
Northwest Harris County, Texas USA
Harris County Municipal
Utility District # 208
Northwest Harris County, Texas USA
Providing Surface Water to the Copperfield Area
November 2003
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Potable water for the Copperfield area is currently provided by various Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs). This water is pumped from groundwater wells, treated, and distributed to users via District owned and operated facilities. While groundwater has been a reliable source to date, the cumulative impacts of groundwater withdrawals from the aquifers of the greater Houston area have been significant. The most significant impact of groundwater pumping has been subsidence. Subsidence, which is the settlement of land resulting from the removal of groundwater from underlying clays, can and has caused damages to underground utilities, roadways, and building structures. More significantly, subsidence has also increased the risk of flood damage by lowering ground elevations.
In an effort to
eliminate subsidence due to continued groundwater pumping, the
Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District (HGCSD) was created in 1975
to regulate the withdrawal of groundwater within Harris and Galveston
counties. As part of its mission, the HGCSD developed various District
Regulatory Plans that require regions to convert from groundwater supplies
to surface water supplies. The West Harris County Regional Water
Authority (WHCRWA) was created in 2001 in order to meet the HGCSD’s
groundwater reduction requirements for the west Harris County area, which
includes Copperfield and MUD 208. While MUD 208’s well monitoring efforts
have confirmed that we have sufficient groundwater sources for the
short-term, the long-term availability of water from our aquifer is not as
guaranteed. Therefore, as one of the districts within the WHCRWA, MUD 208
has been actively negotiating with and assisting the Copperfield Area
Water Consortium and the WHCRWA to provide surface water to our District. |
Under the WHCRWA’s submitted Groundwater Reduction Plan, the Copperfield area will be providing 30% of its water from surface water sources by the year 2010, 70% by the year 2020, and 80% by the year 2030. To meet this plan, the WHCRWA has contracted with the City of Houston as a surface water provider, and is progressing towards its goal of developing the necessary infrastructure to provide surface water and meet the HGCSD’s groundwater reduction requirements. The nearest City of Houston water supply to the Copperfield area is in the vicinity of FM 529 and Eldridge Road; therefore additions to the existing water system will be required to deliver this water to the Copperfield districts. Significant strides have been made during the last several months to finalize the proposed alignments of the water transmission lines that will serve our area. The approved alignment of the water transmission lines is illustrated on the map, (Click here to view the map). Final design of these segments is underway, with the first construction proposed to begin in the spring of 2004. According to the current schedule, surface water will be available to portions of the Copperfield area near the beginning of 2005 with all construction complete by the summer of 2005. To meet this schedule and provide a more timely construction of the needed water improvements and limit the impact time to area residences, current anticipations are that the various contracts for the construction of the water lines will be awarded near simultaneously to different contractors. As the construction of these facilities will cause disruption to some areas during different phases of the construction, we have provided this article and map to help you prepare and plan for the construction projects. |
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The
alignment of the waterline is divided into four contracts as follows
(Click here to view the map):
Additional information
about MUD 208 can be found at:
http://www.harriscountymud208.com |
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